The new facility will be dedicated solely to futsal and will focus on youth development. It is hoped this will result in a more professional approach to the development of futsal skills in Vanuatu and lead to an improvement in the standard of future national teams.
“It is great that we will now have a futsal court here,” Academy manager John Kupa says. “Our players will no longer have to play on the grass but on a proper futsal court.”
National U-20 coach Moise Poida is just as enthusiastic about the new facility.
“It is important that we develop futsal players because, quite simply, it is the way the world plays indoor soccer,” he says.
“We are excited to bring futsal to our academy and hope that by next year the academy will have one or two teams in the futsal league in Port Vila. This is an opportunity to produce top quality players who play real futsal and can represent Vanuatu in OFC tournaments.”
The construction of the new court was made possible by the FIFA Goal Project – an initiative by FIFA to help national associations around the world improve their facilities – and the support of OFC.